Seto landed roughly again, his shoulder knocking into a hard wooden shelf so much that it rattled. He cursed under his breath and gripped his stinging arm, noticing various bags of coffee lined up neatly beside his head, and when he spun around, he found himself behind the counter of a coffee station, with a hot cup sitting ready on the counter atop a tray. Oh. Shit.
Was he the old man…again?! And just when he'd tried so hard to think "I'm a hot guy" all the way until he traveled completely, dammit!
"Old man, you okay?" Someone snuck up behind him to ask, and Seto jumped in shock, whirling around again to see the young man from the convenience store, the one who had come in to relieve him of his shift… And he was wearing a brown store apron with the coffee logo on it, along with a matching brown facemask.
"I...I'm fine," Seto muttered, feeling his glasses sliding off his face, so he pushed them up automatically, his fingertips brushing over the bridge of his nose where he also felt the band of a facemask fitted to his nose. Thank god for the mask.
If he made any weird faces, the kid wouldn't see…
"Maybe sit down for your break, okay? Stop overworking," the young man lectured, and Seto rolled his eyes but agreed. He needed to gather his bearings.
He exited through the other side of the counter and headed for the door labeled 'employees only', elbowing it open to find safety on the other side. Well, since he was still trapped in an old body, he didn't want to meet Yami anymore, so his other goal was to get something sweet and savory for Alisse and Porter.
He spotted the old man's day bag hooked over the back of a fold-out chair and snatched it up, aiming for the convenience store nearby. He'd seen one across the street when he looked out the windows of the café, so he could get something kid-friendly like fruit gummies for the anteater, and instant miso soup powder for the elf brat.
Yami was desperately teleporting from corner to corner of the country, wondering if he'd got the soul signature wrong, or if the old man had really vanished. It was starting to give him anxiety, because he was carrying the monster he'd captured in his robes, subjecting it to extreme temperature changes every time he landed somewhere new—snowy hillside, hot farmlands, or the crowded city.
He half contemplated giving up and going home once and for all when he felt the soul appear the moment he'd teleported into the bustling city for the fifth time.
This is bad. The signature is weak… Yami bit the inside of his cheek, trying not to think about it. Humans didn't live long, and this one didn't have long left. Perhaps his location inside the city was too far away from the old man. He'd checked the apartment and the building had been flattened into a sprawling garden. Confusing.
But now he had a glowing thread of light leading him into the heart of sparkling buildings, taking him down a narrow street, across another, and around the corner until he arrived at a small store, similar to the one where the old man had first been working. Yami's heart sank.
So the old man didn't take the money to open a café like he'd dreamed about.
Shaking his head to himself, Yami swept his cloak up around his ankles to avoid stepping into a wet puddle as he strode across the tiny street and walked through the sliding glass doors, seeing the old man bent over a selection of colorful candy.
Found you! Yami thought cheerfully, and he reached his hand out to tap the old man on the shoulder.
Seto snatched a couple of gummies off the shelf and heard a faint thought behind him, tensing and bracing himself. Sure enough, he felt two taps on the shoulder and Yami's deep voice rang in his ears, sounding slightly hollow at the end of every vowel because of magic overlaying his words.
"How have you been?" Yami asked, staring at the swirl of silver hair that had somehow gotten whiter, realizing he'd forgotten the old man's name.
Crud, Seto growled to himself and tried to keep his mind blank, knowing Yami could read his mind easily. His stomach churned when he was met with Yami's smiling face, and he willed his mouth to move upwards to smile in return.
"You look good. Less…stressed," Yami commented, noting the solid frown had vanished between the old man's brow and he had a more relaxed air about him. "Did the funds help? Show me your café!"
Oh, right, Seto nodded and lifted the basket half-heartedly and pointed at the check-out machine, walking to it silently to buy the candy by resting the basket on the sensor and reading the signs.
"LEAVE PRODUCE ON SCALE AI will detect your purchase please pay using registered biometrics! If you encounter a problem, please press THIS BUTTON " And there was a marker arrow on the sign pointing to a small service button attached to the self-help register.
The scale chimed merrily, and a message popped up on the screen, "have a nice day! If you would like to purchase a reusable bag for 600Y, please pay again!"
What the fuck? Hell no, Seto thought sourly as he whisked the basket off the scale and shoved the packets of candy into the old man's bag, feeling Yami hovering by his elbows, watching him.
"It's been two years…here in your timeline," Yami said, trying for another smile and wishing he could see a smile through the old man's face covering. "Anything interesting happen?"
"No." Seto answered gruffly and strode out of the store without making eye contact, desperately praying Yami wouldn't want to try anything sexual with him…because… TWO YEARS?! This old man's body was now even older! D-Disgusting! …Or not? Considering Yami was well over 500? What the fuck was anything anymore? Nothing could ever be "normal" again.
Yami nodded absently and hurried after the graying human, trying his best not to feel offended by the cold body language. Right. This human only played with him for fun. He didn't have a loving relationship with him. He was only here to…check up.
The human pushed his way into a shop across the street, and Yami paused to translate the sign above his head, pleased to see that it was indeed a café.
So, did he use the currency or not? Yami wondered as he stepped in and was immediately offered a white face covering and a fresh pair of indoor shoes by a young man.
"Thank you for your patronage. We are practicing safety at this location," the man said mechanically, so Yami politely accepted the face covering and slipped his boots off to wear the shoes, pleased by the way the human picked up after him and followed him to a secluded booth in the corner.
He glanced around the homey café, enjoying the warm color of the walls, the flowers on the tables, and the silver bags of beans on the wall behind the counter where the handsome older man was busy over a machine, pouring out a careful cup of dark liquid from a device with a curved spout.
"Amazing," Yami commented, giving the old man an approving smile. "Your dream worked out. I'm happy to see it."
Seto grunted under his breath, hoping it mimicked the old man enough, and he could feel his one employee scrambling to make Yami comfortable by bringing him an additional menu.
"Hey…" the young man leaned into Seto's arm, making him pause before picking up the cup onto the tray.
W-What?! The faster they served Yami, the faster he would leave.
"Is that…your Yakuza boyfriend?" His employee whispered, his brown eyes wide with fear. "I deleted your—…you remember? Don't pretend like you don't remember, old man! I've had it up to here with your pretend-dementia! I see you know how you use your phone when you think no one's looking!"
"I'll take care of him. You worry about yourself," Seto muttered, nudging him aside and setting the full coffee cup on the tray. "Go back to sweeping."
"I just swept!" The young man hissed at him, and Seto waved at him over his shoulder, carefully balancing the coffee over to Yami's table and setting it down in front of him with a steady hand, using the coldest tone he could muster, "Drink it and get out."
"Hey," Yami protested, holding his hands up defensively, catching a whiff of the bitter drink as it landed in front of him. "Is that how you treat your…benefactor? That was all of my currency which was supposed to last three trips."
Seto swallowed thinly and set the tray down, plopping himself informally across the booth from Yami and lacing his wrinkled fingers across his lips to hide his mouth which was already obscured by the face mask.
"Fine. I'll sit here until you finish it," Seto said flatly, thinking he couldn't wait to warp back to Alisse's room to share the popping candy with her to see her reaction. "Hurry up. I'm getting older as we speak."
Yami cracked a smile and gently lifted the cup to his lips, aware that the man's coworker was watching them like a hawk from the counter, so he turned to wave, and saw the man turn dark red and hurry away to grab a broom.
Seto watched Yami delicately sip the coffee, and he itched in his own skin. The more he leapt dimensions, the less he felt like he belonged. Maybe this was a new kind of punishment. He kept trying to cling to this world when he clearly didn't have a place in it anymore.
"So, what else have you been doing?" Yami asked conversationally, and Seto tensed, thinking it had only been a few weeks by his count, but somehow, years passed here. Damn.
"Nothing." Seto replied, lowering his hands into his lap to grip his knees, his mind racing for ways to get rid of Yami faster so he could go home before Alisse's mom found out he was missing.
Now he was caring about getting back.
Was this world even worth coming to anymore?
Yami sipped his drink and let it sting his tongue pleasantly before he set it down and decided it was time to leave. The human was well off and he'd achieved a dream. All was well.
"Alright. I'll stop bothering you. I know you want me gone. I can see a hostile aura," Yami said gently, pushing the half-finished cup across the way, and Seto reached for it automatically, lowering his mask to drink the rest of it. No waste. He was here with human taste buds with an affinity for coffee for the last time.
He was dimly aware of his employee gaping at him for sharing the drink, but he couldn't care anymore. The coffee he'd made tasted delicious.
"I missed you," Yami said simply, folding his hands in front of him as he fixated on a pair of pretty, thin lips that looked impossibly feminine. "I hope you'll be well. This is the last time I'll be visiting."
"Good." Seto said roughly, his eyes stinging as he set the cup down with a clink!
Because same.
This dimension sucked.
The odd pandemic was still on-going, and it was 600 yen for a fucking convenience store bag.
"No last words? No…nothing? Anything?" Yami pressed, feeling a lump welling in his throat as he wondered if this human really was going to treat him with such indifference after he'd granted freedom with a stack of currency. Cruel indeed….
Seto set his jaw and realized Yami wouldn't leave without a kiss or…something. Dammit.
"Fine. Come this way," he said quietly, rising out of the booth and feeling his employee rushing to stick to his side, whispering, "What are you doing?! Put your mask back on! Why are you…sharing his drink? Where are you going?!"
"Take the rest of the day off. I'm…" Seto let his voice trail off guiltily and pointed at the backroom, seeing a horrified look flicker across his employee's eyes.
"You owe him…that?" The young man whispered, looking faint as he blinked rapidly. "You…that's where you got the money for this place, you…did that kind of stuff with him for it?!"
"You said it. Not me. Go home," Seto said with a smirk, and he flipped his mask back up over his face, seeing the young man shaking his head in disbelief.
"Crazy old man. I knew you were something else," the young man muttered, untying the apron and tossing it on the counter with a huff. "Enjoy working the rest of the day in an empty café by yourself."
"Flip the sign over!" Seto called, and the young man gave him a middle finger over his shoulder before swishing the 'CLOSED' sign over the front door's window.
Yami watched the man go and turned his attention back to the old human, following him cautiously into a small room with a table and two chairs, his heart fluttering. Were they going to…?
Seto looped the apron off from around his neck and the second he unhooked the facemask from his ears, his stomach churned at how hopeful Yami was taking peeks at him.
God…This was agonizing. Why did Yami pick this old man?!
"One question," Seto said stiffly, folding the apron and draping it over the back of the chair. "Why me?"
"Why you?" Yami repeated playfully, stepping forward to slink his arm through the human's arm and giving him a squeeze. "You're the nicest human I've managed to befriend, and…you're very handsome, very stubborn, very hardworking. I like that about you."
Gross, Seto thought disdainfully, wondering if those traits were really true about himself. Whatever the case, Yami just wanted to fuck because he was horny, so…
He reached down to curl his fingers around Yami's shoulders to bring him close and dipped down to press his lips against the bridge of Yami's nose, hearing him gasp and then tense happily before jutting up on his toes to press kiss him fully on the mouth, making his heart pound when he tasted coffee on Yami's breath. Just one kiss, and then…no more…
Arms locked around the back of his neck in a familiar fashion, and Seto's knees weakened when Yami's tongue prodded playfully at the roof of his mouth, sending a hot stream of fire down his body. Shit. Shit… This old man hadn't had any sexual contact since… two years ago, it felt like this body was a virgin with the way he was reacting to Yami's sensual touches down his chest and between his legs.
"Now say what you like about me," Yami said devilishly, pulling away to gaze into a pair of striking blue eyes that made his heart wrench.
"You're…determined," Seto replied automatically, dipping his head down to press a tight kiss to Yami's tanned neck, his heart stuck in his throat as he added, "and too nice for your own good. You get invested in other people's business and it's not your problem." He was referring to picking up and attempting to raise a demon child found abandoned at a massacre site, but he knew Yami would take it as 'helping an old man open a café with a stack of magical money'.
"That doesn't sound like compliments," Yami said, dismayed, and he watched the human let out a barking laugh that sent a shiver down his spine.
"Take them. They're compliments," Seto assured him, giving Yami's cloak-covered arm a firm up and down rub. "Now have you had enough? Leaving now?"
Yami blinked rapidly and nodded, trying not to let the disappointment show in his face.
Ah, the mouth touching…was it? Nothing more than that?
Damn it, Seto set his jaw and let his breath out in a slow sigh. Yami wouldn't leave until something was inserted.
Well, since this was the last time…
"Pants off, turn around, and just show me your hole," Seto growled, wanting to get it over with as fast as possible. He felt like such an asshole saying it, but Yami's face lit up, and he turned around quickly to vanish the cloak and pants off his body, shivering from the light cold as he watched the human kneel before him and unceremoniously put his flaccid length into his mouth and give it such a powerful suck, he nearly lost his balance and had to brace himself up on the table. Gripping the table's edge with white fingertips, Yami's legs trembled when he swelled with arousal inside Seto's mouth, and he felt something wet trickle down the center of his ass cheeks.
Seto had spit vigorously and stood shakily to unbutton his own pants, relieved to see that he was hard, but he didn't want to look at his own penis any more than he had to. He rested his hand down on Yami's lower back, pressing him further down on the table chest-down while he slowly prodded his tip into Yami's tightness, hearing Yami hiss and squirm.
"It…hurts a bit," Yami admitted nervously, and the human replied gruffly, "We need that substance, if you remember how to make it—"
Ah, Yami cupped his hand behind his back and handed the human a large glob he'd conjured, and felt it get swiped out of his hands so fast, he felt nails scraping, and then a hot, thick length was stretching him so much from behind, his legs burned and his body trembled happily as he was entered, and the human stayed there for a long moment, breathing shallowly behind him, also shaking as he managed to speak, "…pain, now?"
"N-No…It's fine," Yami replied, dazed, and the pace picked up with fervor, his world spinning when the human gave him pleasure again and again by crashing into him roughly, sending hot jolts of fire up and down his chest and stomach, followed by pale hands groping him with a frenzied desperation that made his heart soar. The human had missed him, even if he didn't say it with his words, it was clear through his actions, and it was getting hotter down at their connection, so much that Yami felt like his lower half was melting off. O-Odd! It didn't feel this intense the previous times…?
Seto's head was spinning as he stared at Yami's ass hugging his dick, and his vision faded in and out with silent joy as his body hummed with adrenaline.
Something was different this time.
Even though he'd rushed them into connecting, Yami was backing into him with excitement, and there was a bubbling heat that was threatening to consume him from below, making it hard to stand, hard to think, hard to see, only enabling him to feel…Yami's hands gripping the backs of his thighs to bring him closer, and a magnificent tightness swallowing him up to the hilt. When he dared to glance down again, he was shocked to see a glowing light in Yami's lower back, just above their connection, and he lost his focus, his orgasm swelling up too fast and shallow, making him cum in an unsatisfying heave while Yami stayed bent over in front of him, half-laughing, half-gasping when he felt something wet trickle down between his legs.
He palmed it away curiously and gave it a sniff, his body still humming with arousal when the human began to stop thrusting.
"I'm not…I haven't yet," Yami said anxiously, throwing the human a look over his shoulder and seeing his blue eyes downcast at the view of their connection below. "Please continue?"
Might kill this old man, let's see, Seto thought sourly as he gave Yami a few more rough thrusts, his dick throbbing with the stimulation and tightness from Yami's hole as he gave it his all, his knees nearly giving out when he felt Yami buck into him so hard, it knocked the air out of him, and finally…Yami came in a rough heave, his semen splattering the underside of the table and dripping down the front of his robes.
Breathless and satisfied, Yami cleaned up with a wave of his hand and gave the human a beaming smile, casting the cleansing bubble over the old man's lower body and seeing him flush dark red.
"Not bad for our last time. You remembered I didn't like the fingers," Yami said, hoping this was praise, and he received a derisive huff of laughter.
"That's why it hurt. Fingers ease the pain," Seto replied gruffly, unable to look Yami in the eye anymore. "Now please leave. I have to get back."
"To work," he added, knowing Yami wouldn't misunderstand him, but he felt like he was telling too much of the truth.
"Very well. Goodbye, human," Yami said formally, reaching out to touch Seto on the arm to give him a warm squeeze. "…Appraise…"
SH-SHITTTTTTTTTTT! Seto screamed internally as he braced himself against the icy storm that drenched him from head to toe, and he made sure to arrange his race and hair color back to what he remembered it being, with two years added.
Takeda Nishio
Age: 70
Blood type: A
Lifespan prediction: 103 human years
Ethnicity: Japanese
Height: 1.86m
Weight: 65kg
Hair: black
Eyes: brown
"Still wearing the blue lenses, I see," Yami said cheerfully, happy to discover that the human would live well past 100, which meant more visits in his future. "Well, see you never, Mr. Nishio."
"I'm a manager," Seto said automatically, and Yami gave him a bright laugh along with a cheerful wave.
"I see many happy years in your future as a café owner—manager," Yami corrected himself, stepping out of the breakroom to give the human some privacy to get dressed further. "I'll be leaving now. See you at age 72?"
"Or don't," Seto replied roughly, feeling his legs wobble as he struggled to stay standing. Holy shit. This type of rigorous sex on the fly wasn't good for a 70-year-old man, was it?
"I hear you loud and clear," Yami said with another pretty smile, and he reached forward to close the employee door. "Goodbye…for now."
Seto nodded and stared at the flash of light coming up from the door crack by the ground and winced at the brightness. Fuck. Finally. These meetings were becoming traumatic for him. It was just sex for Yami, but for him, it was a mental, physical, and emotional fight with himself. Time to fuck out of this dimension, forever. He could drink spider's blood to recreate the taste of coffee. Everything was replaceable.
He dug the bags of candy out from the old man's bag and chanted the dimension leaping spell, glancing down at his shiny dress shoes and seeing them vanish. Before he faded completely, he contemplated writing the old man an apology note on his phone, but decided against it. He didn't need to make the old man think he was going crazy.
His thighs faded, along with his chest, arms and neck, until finally, the burst of dizzying white light consumed him and threw him forward into the closet wall inside Alisse's room with a resounding thump!
He heard two frightened squeaks, followed by footsteps rushing up the steps, so he scrambled out of the closet, making sure the mage's hat was on his head while he sat on the ground by their feet, seeing a book land in his lap just as the door swung open with a bang! And Alisse's mother stood panting in the doorway.
"What was that?" She asked sharply, eyeing the room with a shrewd eye. Snacks had been eaten. All the children were holding books, with little Seto being swallowed by a giant encyclopedia, undoubtedly searching for the answer key…
"Seto dropped a book," Alisse said instantly, holding her own book up higher to block the black particles that were drifting upwards off Seto's tiny shoulders. "Go away Mommy. We were almost having fun until you came in."
The mother gave her a small smile and closed the door obediently.
"Get back in the closet before you get particles all over the room and furniture!" Porter snapped, rushing to open the closet door for him.
Seto nodded weakly and noticed he was still gripping the candy packets, so he left them on the ground by Alisse's book and sank back into his dark corner, letting his particles cool off.
"What's thiiiiis?" The girl picked up a purple packet of gummies with two fingers like it was radioactive, because it was still emanating black bits of matter. "You're right, Portie, looks like poison."
Seto noted she had come up with a nickname for the elf while he'd been gone, so maybe some bonding had happened…?
"It's in ancient script! I can read it!" Porter exclaimed, snatching the candy from her, his eyes glowing. "Sa…ku…ra…goo…mi… Uh. CHERRY GUMMY!"
"Don't yell so loudly about other dimension stuff!" Alisse cried, snatching the packet from him with her tongue flicking out briefly. "Let's eat it now! It smells so good—Seto?"
"You can read Japanese?" Seto was more surprised by Porter's ability to read. He assumed the elf was good-for-nothing and merely a pretty face that could do some magic.
"My entire species can read all kinds of ancient script, duh," The boy replied, prying apart a packet of miso paste that had frizzled together from their travel. "Cool, what's this? Boh-Na-Toh… Bo no to? Bo-niiii….to?"
Seto instantly changed his mind about the elf boy knowing how to read and corrected him with a huff, "bonito."
"I said that," the boy replied proudly, about to tear open the packet before he stopped and read the other instructions on the packet. "Wait, it says 'add water', what the heck did you bring us? A sponge?"
"Yeah, it tastes good," Alisse replied happily, her mouth full of candy as she chewed thoughtfully. "What's a Sakura flavor?"
"I literally just translated it, Ali, I said cherry," Porter shot back, waving the packet over his head and trying to see through it. "It's like paste. Why did you bring squishy stuff back, Dragon-boy?"
"Shut up, I didn't have many options." Seto muttered, stepping out of the closet to check himself out in the mirror, noting only a few black specks drifting up off his shoulders. Good... He was clean?
"Can I use this plate?" Porter asked excitedly, and he vanished the food off of it before anyone replied to him, and Seto frowned in annoyance. He was kind of hungry after all that traveling…
The elf boy quickly made water in the palm of his hand and slapped it into the shallow plate, squeezing the miso paste enthusiastically into it while Alisse whined, "yuck! It smells! …Seto this is gross! My present was obviously better—"
"And…I'm concentrating?!" The elf boy breathed, clamping his hands down on the sides of the plate in a familiar gesture, and Seto watched in fascination as the water inside was brought to a boil and then it cooled down quickly.
"You want first taste, Seto?" The elf boy asked, already dipping his head down to take a shallow sip and clapping a hand to his mouth, his eyes wide. "W-WAIT!" And he dipped his head down to drink it again, and again.
"Appraise me now! Somebody, anyone!" He demanded, and Alisse flicked her ponytail over her shoulder lazily, muttering, "Appraaaise…"
And Seto watched the wash of light flood out from underneath the anteater girl and drench the elf boy from head to toe.
"Well?!" Porter was jutting up on his toes excitedly, and Alisse shrugged.
"Same stats as always. Nothing new."
"But my health is…up?" Porter asked hopefully, and the anteater girl shook her head.
"85%. Same as before. Why? You didn't eat nearly enough of that to max up."
"But…!" Porter glanced down at the soup with a disappointed frown. "My dad…bought this super expensive all-status healing soup from Seto's safe town that tasted exactly like this! I had one sip and was at 100% for eight days!"
Alisse's beady eyes shone with interest, and she leaned forward to sniff the salty soup. "Really? I'll drink it if it'll give me 100% health for days."
"Eight days?!" Seto echoed incredulously. Oh shit. No wonder his illegal miso soup was being hunted by the army! If a whole magical army was unkillable for 8 days, that sounded really dangerous. Yami was right to stop Mai from selling it by the hundreds of bowls. Heck, she was also doing dragon-back deliveries….
"Yeah! Have you seen or heard of this amazing soup?" Porter asked furiously, his ears red once again. "My dad won't even say where he got it from! It's that secret! One bowl cost him SIX gold! SIX GOLD for rotten fish soup!"
Seto swallowed nervously and nodded.
Well that was the pricing strategy he and Mai had come up with.
3 gold for him, and 3 gold for her, per bowl.
"Most All-Status items or meals only last one to three days," Alisse said thoughtfully, flipping her hair to her front and beginning to braid it. "Someone super powerful must've made it. Safe towns are notorious for keeping powerful creatures who…" She stopped talking and eyed Seto silently. "Do you know who made it?...Seto?"
Seto lowered his head shamefully, realizing he'd been figured out way too easily.
"I made it for myself because I was craving the taste. Yami told me to stop, but I kept doing it…" he said flatly, and Porter lunged at him to shake him by the shoulders.
"Please! Please make some for me and my family! I wanna keep some at home just in case!" The elf boy begged, his voice rising shrilly. "My dad goes out to fight all the time! He comes back injured a lot! He's the only family member I live with! I can't heal him enough cuz I suck at healing magic! And our healing mages are all level 150, so they take turns—"
"Yes! Now stop! I'll make you some, but you can't tell anyone!" Seto said aggressively, his eyes watering while he wished he didn't have to learn so much about this elf boy's tragic life.
"Can I have one too? Emergencies only. I would use it on my mom if anything were to happen to her," Alisse said, suddenly sounding fearful. "She's only human, you know? Covered in my dad's spells, and mine, but…still…just human…."
"Yeah, I know what it's like to be only human," Seto said heatedly, trying not to remember his traumatic death by gunfire in his bulletproof limo. "If you guys visit me at my…safehouse, if I can convince Yami to invite you guys over, I'll make you some. Or bring you some, if I can figure out how to make the paste into a solid cube."
There was a moment of golden silence. Then Porter threw himself forward to hug him fiercely, and Alisse squealed happily too, kneeling on the floor with them to hug them both.
"And we became friends…for you, Seto," the anteater girl declared, turning her snout in the air. "Me and Porti made a truce."
"I'll let you call me whatever names you want in return for all the names I called you," the elf boy said strongly, nodding with an air of solemness. "I'm sorry about it. Really."
"I know, Potty. I know," Alisse said snobbily, and Seto bit back a laugh.
They pulled out of the hug just as the door swung open with another rough bang! making Alisse and Porter both jump in mild shock, while Seto sat stonily in place, eyeing Yami standing breathlessly in the doorway, surveying the room with a sharp eye.
Ohhh crap….
"Am I in trouble?" Seto asked bravely, knowing he'd left the safe town without letting Yami know. Craaaaap…
"Yes," Yami said strongly, his angular eyes narrowing. "You worried me. I had to ask everyone where you went, and almost put out a Wanted notice for you. You didn't even tell Mai where you went!"
Seto swallowed thinly and gripped his knees.
Well, he didn't really have time to go back to tell her….
"Don't be mad at him, please! I made him come!" Alisse cried passionately, hugging Seto fiercely around the neck and shaking him. "Also my mom dragged him into the carriage before we could go anywhere else!"
"Yeah! And I was weapon shopping with my dad before I got kidnapped too!" Porter added helpfully, also throwing his tiny arm roughly around Seto's cloaked shoulders. "Seto even said he wanted to go home."
"Kiiiiids! Aw, Mage Yami, don't be mad at the kid for wanting a playdate with my Alisse," the mother also appeared in the doorway, carrying another tray full of food and eyeing the odd brown potion in the middle of the table, complete with the sour smell.
"Goodness. Clean that up," she said, and she turned to head back down, ready to receive a lecture from the mage, but she didn't care. Her little girl had made friends and that was worth it to her any day.
Crap. The candy is from that dimension! Seto bit his tongue so hard, he tasted blood on both of his forked tips. Shit. Shit. Shit.
"So, are we…casting illusions?" Yami asked with a solemn nod at the stack of books and at the general purple haze covering the table and parts of the couch around the anteater girl's skirt.
"Yep. Bad ones. Is it ugly? Not as good as my dad's?" Alisse raised her voice pointily and crossed her arms in a huff, giving Porter a nudge. "You read it to me wrong. I bet it looks like ugly black lumps."
"Well you can't cast mirages like your awesome closet doors, you're not cool enough," Porter shot back absently, sounding visibly relieved. "Let's clean up. I wanna go home. I'm done studying with you nerds. I actually anti-learned from you guys."
"Yeah, get out of my room. You're ruining my nature aesthetic," Alisse said, giving Seto another neck-crushing hug. "Only Seto can stay. No one invited you."
Yami cleared his throat from the doorway, knocking on the frame with a gentle smile. "Seto needs to go home now."
"Nooooo!" Alisse whined dramatically, and Seto had to appreciate how annoying she was being. Hopefully the act was selling Yami as well.
"Take me with you," Porter muttered, starting to stack the books into his lap. "I'm portaling these back to my room. Be right back."
He staggered to his feet and brushed past Yami with his arms full of books and balanced them all the way down the curved staircase.
Yami crossed his arms impatiently and waited for Alisse to finish giving Seto a long hug, and Seto was walked to the door, with bits of the purple illusion still clinging to his thighs, residual effects of bad casting.
"Did you learn anything?" Yami asked lightly, hoping the answer was 'yes'.
"Not really." Seto replied truthfully with a shrug. "I'm broken. We already established that—"
"Don't say that! You are not!" Yami's eyes flashed dangerously, and he knelt to fix Seto's cloak around his tiny shoulders, seeing his own hands shake. "We can work around it. This doesn't mean you're defective or deformed, understand?"
Alisse watched this scene from her doorway, feeling a pang of something strange sear through her chest, and she noticed her mom and Porter standing at the bottom of the stairs, also listening to Yami's voice reverberating all down the house. Oops. Everyone heard that…
Seto grit his teeth and nodded. God, fine. Whatever. Yami was so… He didn't have a word to describe how he was feeling, but it was a mix between caring and annoying.
His hand was held gently, and he was being led down the stairs where Alisse's mother and Porter were at the bottom, gazing up at them with anxious eyes.
"What's this about deformities?" The human woman asked lightly, and to Yami's horror, the elf boy answered her with a story Seto had undoubtedly been feeding them, "Seto is a broken dragon baby whose horns snapped off when he fell from his nest—"
The woman gasped in horror, and Yami turned to give the elf boy a stiff smile.
"Let's avoid the words 'broken' from now on, understood? We're trying to naturalize him…kindly, with acceptance and understanding." He urged gently, and the elf boy flushed red and nodded respectfully, lowering his head in a bow.
"Yes sir." The boy whispered, the tips of his pointed ears pink. "Bye Seto. See you sometime."
"See you. Potty." Seto said with a smirk, and the mother gasped again.
"It's a joke!" The elf boy insisted, his ears still dark pink. "I'm Potty, Portia, and all kinds of P names! It's payback for…me calling Alisse long-nose names. We-We made a truce and agreed…"
The mother flushed pink too, and Yami let out a chuckle.
"Kids are so funny," he said calmly, aware of the mother's distress, but he had a feeling this justice-seeking behavior was partially Seto's fault. "Let's get you home, Seto. I take it you didn't buy any furniture because you've been here all day?"
"Yep," Seto replied just as calmly, and he made sure to bow at Alisse's mother. "Thank you for inviting me. I had a lot of fun and want to come back soon."
"BYE!" The anteater girl called from the top of the stairs, waving, and Seto waved happily at her, feeling Yami's grip tighten around his wrist into an iron-like grip. Geeze, protective much?
"Hey, are you guys going back to the safe town? My dad might still be there…standing in line at the weapon's shop!" Porter begged, and Yami gave the elf boy a small smile. "He'll come pick you up. Seto and I have errands to run before the sun sets. Good day."
"Good day…" the mother echoed, hovering behind them while Seto shoved his feet into his shoes and was led down the stone path.
He turned around to wave at Porter one last time, seeing Alisse join him in the doorway and wave enthusiastically. Aw….
The moment they turned the corner and exited the gate, Yami let out a tight sigh and began his speech.
"Seto… We need to talk about this."
Ugh. Here we go, Seto rolled his eyes and braced himself to be lectured for leaving the safe town.
Author's note:
Seto dimension leaps for what he thinks is the last time.
Yami really doesn't understand what XXX stuff is and thinks its like a fun drink he gets to try every time he travels.
Seto's new friends bond and end up covering for him.